Ladies and gents, I’m Glenn Laffel, the father of the bride. On behalf of my wife Lori and Mindy and Roy Kaufman, I welcome you to our celebration of Nikki & Ben’s wedding. Many of you have come a long way to join us. We’re honored and thankful that you came.

[2]Off the bat, I want to say how proud I am to have accompanied Nikki today.

Nikki, I have never seen you more beautiful then you are right now. I am amazed at what you have achieved already. You were a 2-time state champion swimmer in high school. You got into Princeton when you were 16 years old. And you’ve managed a dozen different projects in a dozen different factories—on the ground, in China—to get the world’s coolest products[3] to market, on time.

I look at your remarkable productivity, and what I see is your mother, who has had her share of success over the years, as well. I am proud that you take after her in areas that matter to me.

Every dad hopes his daughter will find a reliable, sensible, considerate partner and although you try not to interfere in their decisions, you do hope your children will make the right choices in life. Nikki chose Ben.

Nikki, in Ben you have found a perfect partner. He does the driving. He takes you shopping. He sets up your Wi-Fi and your iPhone. He even folds laundry, though he does put it on the couch where he just napped, buck naked!

Beginning today, Ben is the most important person in your life, Nikki. Mommy and I, your sisters, grammy and grampy, we are always here for you, but Ben is the last person you see before you close your eyes for sleep every night. So before you do that every night, Nik, look at this man. Remind yourself that he is Ben Kaufman, your husband and the most important person in your world. Now and forever.

And Ben, you are as amazing as your bride, and I admire you. You were named one of the nations’ top entrepreneurs under the age of 30, when you were barely 20! You sold a company to Carmelo Anthony. You were invited to the White House because of your success as an entrepreneur. You have lectured at Stanford, MIT and RISD, and there’s more where that came from.

[4]So just one quick story. I said that Ben does all the driving with Nikki. So he and I have this little thing in which, whenever he and Nik go for a drive, and when it’s safe for him to do, Ben texts me to say that Nikki has fallen asleep in the car. It never takes Nikki more than 3 minutes to pass out when Ben is driving! I love getting this text from Ben because – first of all – Lori falls asleep like that in my car too, but more importantly, it comforts me to get that text from Ben. That’s because what he’s really saying is, he’s taking care of my daughter. Ben will always do that, I know. That’s a big reason why I’m so happy tonight.

OK so that’s it from me! Just please let me propose a toast to the new couple. Ben, Nikki, I wish you a lifetime of happiness together. May you fulfill all the hopes and dreams you have for yourselves and each other. And may your bond as a married couple gain strength, each and every day.